The Oxford University sides are ever talented and unpredictable. There was an astonishing range of handicaps on display when we played them yesterday, from the lowest the to the highest AC handicaps that fit the scale and stay within the SCF’s B-League limits – 0.5 to 24. What was pretty predictable though is that Blewbury’s Peter Allan (0.5) won his game, and Andy Robertson (10) did likewise against the brave 24-handicapper who nevertheless had hopes of playing against Cambridge after a bit more coaching and practice, but had to dash off after lunch for his college’s Summer Ball that evening. I lost to the clearly up-and-coming Oxford captain, whose handicap was only twice mine.
Still, a team win’s a team win, and I found our lunchtime conversation in the Blueberry pub afterwards highly entertaining, though I did wonder what the other customers might be thinking.
AC B-League results so far: played 2, won 1, lost 1. Next, we play Winchester, away.
This morning we began our defence of last year’s SCF B-League title, level play AC under advanced rules. But in contrast to that undefeated 2023 season, East Dorset came to Blewbury and brought us down to earth with a bump. Although Peter Allan competently won his game +16, Avril R-M and I both struggled to find our form, and we two lost -17 and -8(t) respectively. Avril’s opponent gallantly and cheerfully admitted, while tucking into his lunch, that he had played unusually well today. Result: a 1-2 defeat for Blewbury.
Our next B-League match will be against Oxford University, who are coming to Blewbury on Saturday morning, 4 May.
We completed a very successful AC Advanced B-league programme even before July was out this year, not only with time to spare, but also by winning our every match.
We followed our opening win against Oxford University on 10th June by beating Winchester 3-0 on 30th June (Blewbury team Peter Allan, Avril Rangoni-Machiavelli, Paul Wolff), High Wycombe 2-1 on 5th July (our winners Peter Allan and Deirdre Cochrane, loser Paul Wolff) and finally Aldermaston 2-1 on 25th July (winners Peter and Avril again, loser Paul again).
Twelve years – that’s the unbroken chain of friendly AC matches between the Blewbury and Watford Cassiobury croquet clubs, the Watfordians on their annual summer tour. Today’s was a pretty fair result, with all games played to handicap rules: two games won by each club in the morning, a shared Sunday roast at the Red Lion at lunchtime, and two games won by each in the afternoon. Result: a draw for Watford on their final tour match of 2023 after their defeat last year, and a call for the resumption of this pleasurable match next year too.
In the morning doubles, Deirdre Cochrane (8) and David Long (16) beat Simon Hathrell (-1) and David Robinson (9) +1 on time, with our David securing the win by way of an audacious last-turn roquet through the hoop on Simon’s ball; and Steve Fisher beat Jonathan Lambton +4(t), for two Blewbury wins on Court 1. Meanwhile, on the other court, Mark Homan (5) beat Andy Robertson (10) +5(t) and Eddie Chung (9) beat Minty Clinch (18) +1(t), to equalise.
After-lunch smiles at the Red Lion
Back from the pub lunch, the drizzly rain driven by strong winds was not being kind to anybody. David Long beat David Robinson +19 in less than 90 minutes, and Steve beat Mark +25 soon after. Blewbury 4-2 up! But Deirdre couldn’t quite manage to hold off Jonathan in a very tight finish, losing -4 with one ball still on 4-back, and finally the doubles was going to time…and Andy and Minty couldn’t hold off Simon and Eddie, who won +8(t).
So if you were playing for Blewbury and your name was David or Steve, you won both your games: well done!
And as we were all saying our final farewells, a watery sun could be detected behind those still swirling grey clouds.
On the hottest day of the year so far Blewbury beat Oxford University 3-0 in our first match of the SCF B League for association croquet, level advanced play, after persuading Oxford to visit our courts for a change. We solved their transport problem by running a car ferry from Didcot Parkway before, and back to the station again after, the match.
Oxford began by taking a panoramic view of our courts to show their groundsman what could be done if he tried. Peter Allan was the first to finish his match, beating Mark Baker 26-7. Mark did ruefully comment that he couldn’t help over-hitting on our faster courts.
Avril had a fierce tussle with the Australian Charlie Sharpe who was really a GC player and showed it by running hoops and making roquets seemingly at will, quite exceptionally for an AC handicap of 16. Their match went to time with Avril just ahead at 21-20.
In the third match, Greg Simond had another sure eye for a roquet but showed inexperience with his break planning. Paul Wolff ran out a comfortable winner 17-5 on time, despite an infuriating number of missed roquets in easy positions when the game was there for the taking.
We consoled the Oxford team with cold beers from our fridge on their way home.
Dear Everyone With the courts closed, this has to be a time for planning ahead for when we are set free again. Maybe around Easter for competitive play? Your guesses will be as good as mine – I dare say even better. But with great optimism, we have now put together a complete programme for season 2021. We just need to check a few points, then hopefully we can give you the outline in the next Newsletter. As I reported last month, we’d like to kick off on Saturday 24th April with the Charity One-Ball in aid of the British Heart Foundation.
Our principal open tournaments are shown in the Croquet Association’s online Fixtures Calendar, and you can find them at the foot of our club details page which gives their short titles, dates, and key dates for entering (allocation dates and closing dates), though entries aren’t open yet. The tournaments flagged with a knife and fork are those where we offer simple lunches, and you’ll have seen June’s appeal yesterday for volunteers to join the catering team – please don’t be shy!
One last thing I want to report in this newsletter is the funeral of Jolyon Kay, the first cause and founder of this club, without whom it would never have come into being, two days ago [Note: 15th February] at St Michael’s in Blewbury, with the limited and distanced attendance demanded these days. Fellow club members and friends of Jolyon who able to be there were Deirdre and Malcom Cochrane and Avril Rangoni-Machiavelli, as well as myself, representing all of the club.
Finally, I want to include the obituary of Jolyon that Minty Clinch has written, which should appear in the next Croquet Gazette after I’ve added one more item, which is that in 2003, the year our new courts were opened, he was awarded a CA Diploma for outstanding services to croquet. Minty was fortunate to have been able to interview Jolyon early last month while researching the history of this club for our web site.
Jolyon Kay, September 1930-January 2021
Croquet said goodbye to one of its most endearing globe trotters when Jolyon Kay died on 27th January, 2021. He is buried in the cemetery alongside Blewbury Croquet Club (BCC), his passion since he founded it in 1992. He was at school at Charterhouse, then graduated with honours in chemical engineering from St John’s College, Cambridge. Shirley, his wife of 64 years, was a modern languages student at the same time.
Jolyon spent a decade in the UK chemical engineering industry. In 1958, he started working at the Harwell Atomic Energy Research Establishment (Harwell Science and Innovation Campus from 2006), a job that introduced him to neighbouring Blewbury; the Kays bought Treble House, the first of five homes they owned in the village, and settled down to raise their four children. With his colleague, the late Mike Duck, he established the Harwell Croquet Club.
In the early 1960s, he joined the Foreign Office. His first assignment was at MECAS (Middle East Centre for Arab Studies) in Lebanon where he learned Arabic and studied regional affairs. One of his early postings in a 30-year ‘striped trouser’ career was Economic Counsellor in Saudi Arabia (1974-1977). He enjoyed the variety of his new life: a visit to the King one day, helping a British tourist with a lost passport the next, prepping a businessman for a big contract, telling him who and how much he’d need to bribe to win it. Wherever he went, the genial diplomat with the mallet established impromptu croquet courts: colleagues and locals loved the games he devised in Jeddah, Casablanca and Dubai.
In England for summer breaks, he revisited Blewbury, competing in croquet tournaments until he became ‘one of the better players in the region’. Why not a club of his own? Once committed, Jolyon was not a man to be denied. From small beginnings in 1993, when he announced his project in the Blewbury Bulletin, to the grand opening of two expertly laid courts and a clubhouse on Tickers Folly Field on 31st May, 2003, he worked tirelessly to raise funds and sustain momentum. By using professionals to pitch to Sport England, BCC received £42,000 under the Capital Grant Scheme, the largest award to any croquet organisation in recognition of a start up’s value to the community. ‘Not bad for a Victorian pastime with a somewhat crusty image’, he mused.
With BCC up and running, Jolyon promoted the game on the Croquet Association (CA) Council from 2001-2006, serving as Chairman of the CA International Committee from 2003-2004. After time as Chairman of the Southern Croquet Federation (SCF), he became Coaching Officer and SCF Regional Representative on the CA Council, using his Grade 1 coaching qualification to run courses for club members and juniors.
Over the last 30 years, he spent much of his time in Anogyra near Limassol in Cyprus. Shirley was a Middle Eastern archaeologist and a prolific writer: the latest of 16 books, Olives and Lemons, analysed the changes in the village over those decades. In September, Jolyon enjoyed his 90th birthday celebrations with his wife and their granddaughter, Saffron, but returned to Blewbury after Shirley was buried under Cypriot skies two months later.
Perhaps remembering his production of T.S.Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral for the Blewbury Players in St Michael’s Church, he rented the house across the road. On warmer December days, the nonagenarian sat outside at noon, mulled wine in hand, to catch up with old friends.
Now, in the words of his daughter, Gigi, ‘we are all pleased to think of him buried beside the Blewbury Croquet Club, smiling benignly whenever he sees the residents enjoying the club into which he put so much love and passion and energy’.
Dear Everyone New Year greetings to you all. Here’s to happier times on the courts once the pandemic subsides. As usual in January, we are addressing our Club summer programme. This year, we hope the season will be as near normal as possible. If not, we’ll make adjustments down the line.
For now, the courts are closed, but essential maintenance is proceeding, provided by Chris Bateman and our volunteer mowers. We are very grateful to you all. The courts will be their 6/7 winter size when we’re allowed to re-open them.
Lockdown is the perfect time to bone up on the Laws (AC) and Rules (GC). Players have the responsibility to take them on board before they compete. The 5th edition of the GC Rules has been around for a couple of years so I’m sure you’re all up to speed. No time for complacency though. The current AC Laws are 12 years old, and a re-written 7th edition has been proposed by the World Croquet Federation (WCF) after very lengthy consultation. The Croquet Association plans to adopt these from March 1st this year. There are no major changes, but the devil is in the details which must be assimilated .
As a referee I’d like to explain the changes to all our AC players before the season begins. A Zoom video session would be a good starting point. Or we could break it down into bite-sized chunks? Unfortunately we can’t gather in the pub to go through it but all suggestions will be gratefully considered. I look forward to hearing from as many of you as possible as soon as possible on this one.
And now for some good news. A warm welcome to the new members who have joined the club since the end of the 2020 season.
Sally Batty – already a croquet member at Phyllis Court;
Penny Brassell – a central figure in Blewbury Badminton Club;
Josh Angers, Max Crome, Cosmo Denny – all Junior members, from Bradfield College;
Bo Liddiard – a relative newcomer to croquet.
It’s great to have you on board: some of us have met some of you, though not as many as we’d like in the current crisis. We hope you enjoy your croquet at Blewbury and look forward to playing with you and getting to know you soon.
In sad contrast, I recently learned of the deaths of two people who had key roles in the early years. Shirley, wife of Jolyon Kay, the Club’s founder, died in Cyprus the the autumn of 2020. Mike Duck, Jolyon’s Harwell friend and loyal supporter, died in July. I have happy memories of needle matches with both of them, always so enjoyable especially when I didn’t lose. Jolyon has now rented St Michaels House opposite the church in Blewbury: I’m sure he would like to catch up with old friends as circumstances permit.
As we’re looking back, you can expect an imminent reboot of the Club History page on our web site. I think our 30th birthday must be approaching. Keep your eyes open.
Association of ideas: birthday: birthday suit: no, don’t get excited, but clothing. First, after a very long gap, we are re-sourcing croquet kit carrying our club name and logo. When I say ‘we’, it’s really Carol Jamieson who’s working on it. It would be so nice to see it worn again around the courts and in team matches. More news when it’s close to becoming available. And second, there are clothes that have been hanging in the clubhouse for months, even years. I will recycle them painlessly as soon as I get around to it. Owners of said clothes, you have been warned.
Still in the clubhouse, our store of coloured plastic ball-markers has been restored from the darkest recesses of the cupboard to its rightful storage jar. As everybody should know, metal coins can do disastrous damage to a £6000 tournament-grade lawn mower so it is absolutely forbidden and a heinous crime to use them as ball markers. You should carry plastic ones every time you play – and that’s now explicit in the new AC laws! – so take five from the jar and put your 50p for future replacements in the money-box on the counter next to the fridge. Thank you!
Now to our coaching programme for 2021. We’re planning short structured courses for small groups focusing on specific skill sets and regular sessions with club coaches offering informal instruction at regular times each week. It would be really helpful if you, dear reader, could get back to me with specific input: AC or GC? Particular topics? Preferred days, times? Group or individual? We will try to arrange it, but only if we know what you want….
To end on an optimistic note, the domestic club season often begins with our Blewbury heat of the national Charity One-Ball competition organised each year by former Blewbury member, Kevin Carter. This year’s charity is the British Heart Foundation. There will be a donation/entry fee for the local heat, the winner qualifying for the final at Surbiton (well worth playing there – most excellent lawns) on 9th May. We’ve pencilled in Saturday 24th April for our local heat, so get it into your diaries now! And it is important to know that these days the finalists are split about 50-50 between AC players and predominantly GC players – one-ball is for everyone.
When the season is under way, who would like to play in club matches? Excellent opportunities to visit other clubs, play on their lawns, use their facilities, and meet their croquet players. Teams have between 2 and 5 players, depending on the competition. We compete at GC and AC in handicap and level play matches. In AC, handicap includes short croquet on half-courts with just six hoops for each ball; level play is under advanced rules, giving compulsory lifts during (most) games. You don’t have to turn out every time, but we need a pool of available players so we don’t enter competitions, only to find we can’t raise a team. If you’re interested in GC matches, let David Vincent know; if in AC matches, let Joe King know. They will look for opportunities to give you one or more games in team matches during the season.
After a short and bumpy season, we end it almost as we began it – in another lockdown. Here are the personal successes in our competitions and trophies of 2020.
One-day GC B-level, 17 June: Peter Adams (Caversham) One-day GC C-level, 4 July: Peter Allan (Harwell and Blewbury) AC Advanced Weekend, 18-19 July: Robin Brown (Blewbury) One-day Short Croquet, 8 August: Tim Lacey-Hulbert (Kington Langley) AC C-level Advanced Weekend, 29-30 August: Aston Wade (Hamptworth)
Semi-open tournaments
All-England Handicap (GC): National finalists David Vincent, John Garnett Berkshire Handicap (AC): Anthony Hardwicke
The Founder’s Cup is one of our oldest club trophies. It was originally the Chairman’s Cup, presented by Jolyon Kay, the first Chairman, and founder of the club. It’s played for under the conditions of level play advanced Association Croquet, so the pool of potential winners is usually rather small. Jolyon used to invite those who would compete for it each year. Still, it’s a challenge for the mere mortals among us.
The cup was re-named the Founder’s Cup when the Chairmanship changed.
This year we played on Saturday 10 October, much later in the season than usual. Robin Brown started as the clear favourite, both on form and on the rankings, and didn’t disappoint, winning all his games and taking the tankard home with him – not for the first time!
Results:
Round 1: Robin beat Paul +24, Nick beat Deirdre, and Joe beat Avril.
Round 2: Robin beat Nick, Joe beat Paul +25, and Deirdre and Avril wisely settled for a draw at equal hoops after long play out in the cold.
Final: Robin beat Joe +26tp in double-quick time.
Sadly, we couldn’t manage the usual tournament lunch under present restrictions.
This is the Club’s annual One-ball tournament, meant to be played in a spirit of relaxed enjoyment rather than red-blooded competition. That’s not to say that the players don’t try to win! It’s usually played around mid-summer, but in this topsy-turvy year was held up until October, and became the final event of our full croquet season. Whether everyone was seizing their opportunity to get one last competition in, or the bracing autumnal weather was irresistible, we don’t know, but 22 members entered this year, surely a record.
Because of the numbers, play was split across two weekends. On the first Sunday morning we played in two separate pools of six, all playing all in each pool, ending up in these respective orders:
Pool 1: Minty Clinch, Sue Jenkins, Steve Fisher, Paul Wolff, Andy Robertson, Sandy Millikin.
Pool 2: Edmund Shirley, Peter Allan, Deirdre Cochrane, Rosemary Balsdon, Susan Tilbrook, June Wolff.
After brown-bag lunches and an exchange of groups, the following final top order was reached at the end of the first day’s play: Edmund, Peter, Paul, Deirdre, Steve, Minty.
The next Saturday morning saw the second ten of the 22 entrants play in two pools of five, finishing in these orders:
Pool 3: Nick Butler, Dave Grinstead, Brian Jamieson, Joe King, Carol Wadsworth.
Pool 4: David Long, John Garnett, Carol Jamieson, Robin Brown, Avril Rangoni-Machiavelli.
It ought to be said that the 1-ball handicapping system is very hard on A-class players. Robin’s handicap was -6, Nick’s -4, and Joe’s -3, so giving away up to 8 bisque turns in 13-point games was a bit of a challenge for them at times.
The wind was getting up, the rain was coming down – but a mere gale-blown drizzle – and after lunch a system of repechage eliminated Carol and Brian out of the top three from each of the moring pools, leaving Nick, John, David and Dave to play quarter-final games against Deirdre, Peter, Paul and Edmund respectively from the previous Sunday. Then David beat Dave and Peter beat Nick in the two semis played between the quarter-final winners.
The Final
Halfway – hoop 6 safely runAt last, the peg-out
In the ultimate final we watched two croquet players dressed as white-hooded pixies battle it out against the elements and each other. David Long beat Peter Allan 13-11, and deservedly carried home the triumphal shield. – David had lost his first game of the morning, but won every other game after that little warm-up. By an almost exclusively Golf Croquet player, it was a remarkable feat at an AC game.
Next year we plan to revert to Summer for the Roger Cambray Memorial Shield.
